I use H&R Block's software on a Mac, and the 2018 version was available and I downloaded it last night. I think all the forms I need are there. I'm sure Intuit won't be far behind. Does the H&R B software include a "what if" worksheet? Turbo Tax includes it and it's great for doing many what if sce...

I, along with many, will not be itemizing for 2018. I will not have any capital gains (except for mutual fund distributions) although I am subject to taking RMD's. For this year, will Turbo Tax Basic be adequate? Does Basic include a "What if" worksheet. This is very important to me. Thanks, as usua...

Incredible thread. 660 posts in 10 days and going strong. Reading this is like reading a text book. At a time when international is underperforming, it's a great reminder why I shouldn't cut and run. I'm glad I have an Investing Policy Statement. Just need to stay strong enough to follow it. Thanks ...

If you rebalance, then, there is no difference between the 3FP and the balanced fund. KlangFool With the 3FP, if stocks are down, you can w/d bonds. With the Balanced Index fund,for example, every w/d is 60% equities and 40% fixed income. You can't choose which asset class to withdraw from. 1210 Th...

If you rebalance, then, there is no difference between the 3FP and the balanced fund. KlangFool With the 3FP, if stocks are down, you can w/d bonds. With the Balanced Index fund,for example, every w/d is 60% equities and 40% fixed income. You can't choose which asset class to withdraw from. 1210

If you are in the withdrawal phase, are Balanced Funds (Balanced Index funds, Lifestrategy funds, target date funds, etc.) affected more by Sequence of Return risk than individual funds such as in the 3 fund portfolio? With the 3FP, if stocks are down, you can withdraw from your bond fund (also help...

Variability of return - A statistical measure of how much your return varies over the period of time. See the wiki: Variation of returns Sequence of return risk - Over the long term, the market return will rise over time. However, it doesn't do that in a straight line. Over a short period of time, ...

Speaking of the 3 fund portfolio (to compare returns). It would seem, and my research might be a bit faulty but, the 10 year returns for LS 40 are 5.97% and a 40-60 3FP (3 fund portfolio) has a return of 6.39. Does that surprise anyone? Does anyone have better data for comparison? Disclaimer: past ...

I retired the first time at age 49 from Megacorp. I remember two experiences in particular. First, my young son was telling his friend's mother that I had retired early. She looked at me with a wink and told my son...of course he did. She assumed that I had been laid off, but she would keep my secre...

Since stocks will return 12% every year like clockwork, who needs bonds? Dave also says an 8% withdrawal rate is safe. Future Value of various returns (using $100,000 as the PV and a 30year term) >>>12% each and every year: 100,000 x 12% x 30 years = $2,995,992 >>>If he meant 10.5% CAGR: 100,000 x ...

"and it requires just a few minutes each year to rebalance." Reminds me of this old Archie Bunker episode: Archie has a TV repairman come by to fix his TV. When he's done, he presents Archie with a $50.00 repair bill (obviously a long time ago). Archie objected saying "$50 ?, all you did was connec...

What are the factors you consider in deciding whether to file a claim for some bodywork or to pay it out of pocket. How can one determine if next year's premium will increase by more than what the insurance company pays for the claim? When does the premium increase drop ? Does it make a difference w...

I’d fire my broker. You can always find a chart or fund that looks better than an index. The thing is, you can only find it for sure in hindsight. JT Using a chart of historical performance is quite lame. Apparently this broker views his clients as naive. Thank you Jack, Taylor, Rick, Larry, Dr. Bi...

Good info. From the review it sounds like anyone already reading this forum would have little to no benefit from the book. Yep, nothing really new, just a re-affirmation. I like it because the principles behind a three fund portfolio are all presented very concisely in one place. What I've done is ...

I like John's recommendation for Vanguard to turn the three-fund portfolio into a one-fund portfolio, holding Taylor's three funds in market cap weighting in a single fund. Talk about the ultimate in simplification.

There would still be objection(by some) to this fund in a taxable account.

OP(Poultryman); You've gotten some pretty good advice from the BH posters. I would only add....if you intend to cut back because of a negative market, when do you cut back? In January because the market was down 4% . In July when you start to think it's going to be a bad year, or in November when y...

OP(Poultryman); You've gotten some pretty good advice from the BH posters. I would only add....if you intend to cut back because of a negative market, when do you cut back? In January because the market was down 4% . In July when you start to think it's going to be a bad year, or in November when yo...

The NewRetirement podcast is relatively new, but Steve Chen has had an all-star lineup thus far - Bill Bernstein, Jonathan Clements, Allan Roth, Big ERN, Morgan Housel, and Chris Mamula Continuing the trend, Robert Merton is the guest on today's episode. I got about half way through it on my drive ...

My wife however would have a very difficult time even rebalancing the classic 3 fund portfolio. investing and math just isn’t her thing and she has absolutely no desire to be involved. how quickly adverse things can happen in life and how quickly I may be out of the picture. For me, this is the mos...

Leesbro63: VTEBX/VTEAX (Tax-Exempt Bond Index) charges a 0.25% load on non-ETF shares. I'd probably go for VWITX (Intermediate-Term Tax-Exempt) or possibly a State Tax-Exempt Fund. We're dancing on the head of a pin. Best wishes. Taylor Is there anything wrong with using the ETF on this? 1210

OP, Lots of good suggestions from fellow BH's. If you still need more ideas, try the Vanguard Tax Managed Balanced Fund. (dependent on how high your tax bracket is, that you have at least $10,000 to invest, and can accept the~50/50 asset allocation). Div yield is a little over 2%.....>than 1% in QDI...

But aren't the "scared out passive investors" really active investors? They may be reluctant market timers? Doesn't passive mean passive all the time? 1210 The most common definition I’ve seen sums up the money in “passive” vehicles which I agree can be traded actively. For your strict definition o...

There are plenty of unsophisticated individual investors holding tilted portfolios, and the alpha of actively managed funds could potentially come from preying on them. Larry Swedroe says that a skilled asset manager can generate a small amount of alpha on a gross return basis, but only by exploiti...

To me, alpha is additional return "without" additional risk. As Larry Swedroe points out in his book "The Incredible Shrinking Alpha", alpha is becoming increasingly difficult to attain. Larry says that a skilled asset manager can generate a small amount of alpha on a gross return basis , but only b...

Is $2m total net worth or retirement portfolio value? Do you own or rent (renters are subject to greater inflation risk than home owners?) Portfolio value. Not including retirement accounts. Hypothetical. This is interesting, " not including retirement accounts". Many folks have the bulk of their n...

I've seen mostly reasonable portfolios posted here from EJ. Lots of American Funds. The problem for us DIY'ers is the advisory fees, fund fees and loads. This could add up to 2%. When you've planned to take 4% (or less) of your portfolio as a safe withdrawal rate in retirement, giving 2% to EJ seem...

As to income from VTMBX, were they pretty consistent in the amount of tax exempt and the amount of taxable dividends from year to year? That's a good question. I don't have my mother's statements but glancing at her tax returns it seems that they don't vary more than about 10% from year to year (wh...

Reading some of the data on the fund, it almost seems too good to be true. Hope not. What is it about the fund that almost seems too good to be true? I have never owned shares of the fund, but I have investigated it. It looks as if recently about 60% of its distributions are federally tax-exempt, w...

I have our financial house in order and hope to retire in 3 years @ 55. Have a 401k, 2 Roths and a taxable account all invested in index funds. The taxable account will be the hardest to deal with. You'll have to balance tax in-efficiency against simplicity. 1210 And I can't do it due to unrealized...

My mother holds a small amount of this fund. She would actually be upset if she knew that it partially invests in stocks but what she doesn't know won't hurt her. She will never sell it or buy more because she wants to keep everything the way my father left it. I talked my father into buying it abo...

Thank you David. I'm aware of your views from previous posts. One of my suppositions is that the principal would not be touched except by my heirs. We've made the decision to have a balanced fund in taxable for a variety of reasons. What I'm doing is comparing the differences between three of them.....

Is Vanguard Balanced Index Fund Admiral Shares (VBIAX) a horrible choice for a taxable account? For me,"it depends". In principle, fixed income belongs in tax advantaged. I agree with that. But, I have special circumstances which may apply to you as well. Currently we use the 3 fund portfolio with ...

Except that the American Funds that he recommends have done quite well even after paying the loads. Once again, "When" he made the recommendation is critical. 1,Did he recommend them many,many years ago when their performance history was not great and then they became great? 2. Or, is he recommendi...

Not too long agom making a QCD required calling Vanguard and having the rep create it. Now, (not sue when it started), I can do it online. In the "2. Where is the money going?" section, click on "Send me a check" and a box appears asking if this is a QCD. When you click on that, you are able to type...